FOR Google employees Ryan Owens and Gabhain Neary, an address within a walk or Dart distance of the company headquarters in Barrow Street was the priority when finding a place to rent. When Ryan came from Belfast in 2003 to study for a post-grad at UCD, he initially had the cushion of accommodation in the student halls for eight months. Then it was out into the big bad world of private rented accommodation.

"I was fortunate that there were a few of us looking for a place and we eventually rented a house owned by a friend's parents. That was fine, but the commute was a bit of a nightmare. I would get the commuter train into work in the morning and most mornings I couldn't get a seat. Then I started driving in and it took exactly the same time by car as by train . . . but at least it meant I could sit down. I was paying 350 in rent, with petrol on top of that. The company subsidises travel expenses, but eventually I was able to move to an apartment in the Mespil Estate . . .

simply to be within walking distance of the office.

"When I was a student back in Belfast a few years ago, I was paying the equivalent of 200 rent; now it's around 500 but I feel that is good value for money. There hasn't been a huge hike in the expense because now I'm no longer paying for petrol and I'm actually saving money."

Ryan, who works as an online operations specialist, adds that he aims to buy within a year, probably an apartment in Blackrock. He may link up with another like-minded employee for the purchase. "The workforce is quite young and many workmates have bought property together. Some of them have bought in the Gasworks development beside us, but always on the Dart line or within walking distance. Because the office is growing so much, there will be more and more new employees looking for accomodation, so I would feel confident in renting out a room when I eventually buy."

Google offers a relocation package for people coming from the rest of Europe. New employees are generally set up in a hotel for a few days and help is given to find more permanent accommodation. Gabhain Neary, senior buyer for Google Europe and Asia, says about 60% of employees have relocated from mainland Europe. "These tend to be young people in their first job.

There's a strong social network and new people get acclimatised pretty quickly and also tend to rent in the new apartments . . . hence the nickname for around here being Googleland or the Google Ghetto."

Gabhain has bought a property in north Dublin, but has been renting a house in Sandymount for the past year with two other employees, one Irish, one Portuguese.

"We needed three double rooms so the rent is high at 1900 per month. I know there is the belief that paying rent is a waste of money, but the way I look at it, it's a lifestyle choice. I socialise a lot with co-workers and play football with the work team so It's important for me to live relatively close.

If I was looking to buy in the area, though, it would be way beyond my budget. Even if you are paying rent the equivalent of monthly mortgage instalments in somewhere like D4, you would still need a deposit of 10% to buy in the first place . . . I feel we will become more European in our approach to renting and the next generation will value flexibility, in terms of where they live, as opposed to investment."

Dublin: poles apart from the rest of Europe

LILIANA Krzycka and Rafal Pieszko arrived here just five months ago from their native Katowice in Poland. Their Dublin experience has been enlightening, not just in terms of their chosen profession . . . architecture . . . but also in the more pressing business of finding somewhere to live.

Currently working for a city centre firm on a number of residential and commercial developments, the couple were already acquainted with the notoriously sky-high prices of property here before arriving. Renting is pretty much the norm in Poland, as elsewhere in the EU, and so they concentrated their efforts in the apartment sector. They started with the website daft. ie, through which they eventually found accommodation . . . but only after a lot of viewings which proved eye-openers for a couple of idealistic young architects.

"We bought a big map and generally walked the city, " says Liliana. "We looked at over 30 places initially, both from lists on a property website or in the evening newspapers. Most of these were truly terrible and we found it depressing that they could be considered habitable. A 'studio' apartment in Ranelagh had a rent of 800 and it was literally one room that included the kitchen and toilet. We were surprised so much accommodation had carpeted floors . . . not good from a hygiene aspect. So we made it a rule to look for rooms with wooden floors . . . better looking and much cleaner."

On several occasions when somewhere they were told a property was gone . . . even though it was advertised as still available. "It seems much easier to rent if you are single . . . owners don't seem to want couples. These are the things that are most upsetting when you are looking for somewhere to live."

Liliana and Rafal confined their search to the city, as opposed to suburban areas.

"We figured that buying travel tickets to a place on the outskirts would make it just as expensive as a city address. Besides, it's good to walk everywhere rather than sit in a car or on a bus."

Now in their second rented apartment . . . and just a 15-minute walk across the river from the office . . . Liliana and Rafal say the city they have got to know so well is a good place to be: people are friendly and (whatever the rest of us may think) the climate here is good too.

Seen from this young couple's eyes, it sounds like we should appreciate dear old dirty Dublin a bit more. As Liliana explains: "It's fantastic that there is the river with the mountains as the backdrop. The architecture of Dublin is impressive too and, even though it's famous for its older buildings, we particularly love modern design such as the Millennium Wing of the National Gallery and the Ussher Library at Trinity College. There is a lot of building activity here of interest for anyone involved in architecture, and we hope to stay for a while and get more experience. But we certainly will be renting - we couldn't afford to buy where we need to live and work."